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Calling all music theory gurus maybe you can help

Hiya,

You know in trance where the guy is hammering away at a little hook for 1:30 or more and your getting a little bored then all of a sudden there is a 'breath of fresh air' everyhing remains the same only it has more energy same pattern everything.

My girl is a bass player and she says its the oldest trick in the book just transposing everyhting up a semitone?

is this really true? wouldnt that take me out of key? can you modulate succesfully by a semitone?

I am just starting to grasp theory scales etc and this seems to totally break all the rules I have been learning in my head?

Paul van dyke does this a lot

You can definitely modulate up a half- (or whole-) step to a new key to give the song a lift, just make sure that everything (aside from drums/percs, of course) goes up by the same interval to avoid dissonance. It's a time-tested technique and can yield great results.

ok so like if there is an E for instance and I transpose everything up a tone it would be a F# which is a major second would everythin else go up a major second?

quote:

Originally posted by Sonic_c ok so like if there is an E for instance and I transpose everything up a tone it would be a F# which is a major second would everythin else go up a major second?

Yes, exactly. The melodies and harmonies will sound the same relative to each other, but the overall key will be one tone higher.

Im assuming that to disuise the sudden modulation you might use a fill or something? Surely it wount sound right just jumping to an unrelated key?

quote:

Originally posted by Sonic_c Im assuming that to disuise the sudden modulation you might use a fill or something? Surely it wount sound right just jumping to an unrelated key?

Yeah, you probably don't want it to sound too abrupt (depending on the context), so a fill and/or possibly a short pause to "disconnect" it momentarily and to emphasize the transposition can be effective.

It's often used especially in Pop music where the halfstep movement (that's the most used one) is guided by the movement of a long vibrato voice hold.

An example I can think of is this Pop song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pVSXCohyrQ
the change is at around 2:27

Another similar thing to try is to let everything drop out except the melody (and perhaps some percussion to keep the drive alive) and, after it completes its cycle in the original key, have it jump up to the new key, then usher the remaining instruments back in the new key.

quote:

Originally posted by Sonic_c Im assuming that to disuise the sudden modulation you might use a fill or something? Surely it wount sound right just jumping to an unrelated key?

the more abrupt, the more noticeable and since that was your goal, it is perfectly fine.

there are no rules in music. Theory is just a system of presentation that describes a style of music in very broad terms.

You can also speed up the tempo , make it louder ....
I used to always make the build have a slight acceleration because it works and it also makes crappy djs who can't beatmatch squirm.

Thanks tbh i was aiming at cryo and richie v knew you would sort it for me

Eurovision Song Contest Trick # 4

quote:

Originally posted by cryophonik You can definitely modulate up a half- (or whole-) step to a new key to give the song a lift, just make sure that everything (aside from drums/percs, of course) goes up by the same interval to avoid dissonance. It's a time-tested technique and can yield great results.

I think it's cheesy and it's exceptionally bad when the only change happening is the modulation.

The Truck Driver's Gear Change Hall of Shame

Here's one example:

Im not so sure in the tracks im thinking of when I am listening and it happens its like a big lift more energy just does something to me. I hate cheesy music too but I think when used correctly this is the breath of fresh air that I like in trance.

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